


The Happiest Place On Earth

by Dauhu



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Disney World & Disneyland, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21998707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dauhu/pseuds/Dauhu
Summary: Keith is dragged to the so-called "happiest place on earth," which he highly doubts, until he rides Space Mountain and is astounded by the handsome employee checking his seatbelt.in other words, a Disneyland Meet-Cute AU
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 40





	The Happiest Place On Earth

**Author's Note:**

> This is 100% self-indulgent. I came up with it when I went to Disneyland over the summer, and it took me a while to build up the confidence to just post it for fun! It's my attempt at humor —I feel like I write angst/ hurt/comfort more, but I want to expand my boundaries a bit! 
> 
> Thanks [ Madi](https://twitter.com/WhispLion) for reading it through and [ Ellie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/1izardwizard/pseuds/1izardwizard) for brainstorming with me!

Keith certainly doesn’t think that this is the happiest place on earth. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge scored some cheap tickets through Pidge’s brother. They had to wait in line to park, wait in line to get onto a shuttle, wait in line to get in, wait in line to take pictures, and yes now wait in line to get on a ride.

Space Mountain they said — it’s the best ride here. He waits in line grudgingly as Hunk and Lance squeal over the sheer number of poke stops around. Pidge starts precisely calculating a strategy to minimize their wait time down to the minute with each Fastpass. There’s nothing he can do but wait in the sun, regretting his outfit choices of blacks and greys. Even in the winter was it hot in SoCal.

The others’ incessant clamoring soon gives him a headache, and he tries to look away. Only, there’s a group of teenagers taking snapchats that somehow always includes him. He swears that the filters are working on his grimacing face too. Just seeing the god forsaken “dog filter” in his peripheral vision made him even more irritated. Of course, he’s flanked by another loud bunch right behind. It’s going to be a long two hours.

Thankfully the AC was on full-blast by the time they finally got inside the building of the ride. He’s not gonna lie, the spaceship design was a bit dated. All the employees were dressed in the same corny grey uniform with blue trim near the shoulders, fitting with the theme. Just from this, Keith knew the ride would not be worth the two hour wait. Disappointed but not surprised.

Finally they could see the seating. It worked with the four of them; no one would have to be a single rider. Keith chose to sit with Pidge. He knew Lance would be screaming and waving his arms around and Hunk might, just might, puke all over him. They got into their seats and pulled the seat belt over. Pidge seemed to give someone the stink-eye, but Keith couldn’t bat an eye once he was enraptured by the employee standing in their row. As their cart pulled forward, an employee with a dashing smile asked “If this row could please pull on the yellow belts!”

Keith looks up at the voice, eyes widening at the sight of the dashing employee. His uniform fit him perfectly, revealing his shapely figure. His genuine smile made Keith’s heart clench in an unfamiliar way. He gulped and couldn’t even translate the employee’s instructions. Pidge ends up pulling the belt for him, and the employee moves onto to Hunk and Lance. The ride takes off soon after, but all he can think about is the lustre of his silver eyes as compared to the stars.

He’s greeted by the same bright smile once he returns. He might be imagining things, but he really thinks that the employee is just smiling at him.

“Keith, we gotta go! Our fastpass time for the Haunted Mansion is going to run out soon!” Pidge yells as she yanks Keith from the seat to run out. Despite the rush, Lance still grabs a quick snap of the ride photos on the way out.

“GUYS LOOK-” Lance cuts them off suddenly as they were briskly walking towards the other side of the park.  
“You ever see Keith smile that much? You liked the ride huh --you can’t deny,” Lance shows them his snapchat of Keith with the most shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Keith stares at the photo distantly, not caring that Pidge and Hunk were showering him with praise for enjoying the ride and Lance’s “I-told-you-so.” He knew it wasn’t from the ride but from that one attendant, but he’s not going to give them the pleasure of teasing him for that.

“Yeah. I guess it was pretty good,” Keith says with the same grin, and the others feel so unnerved they don’t ask him for clarification.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind going on it again.”

“Oh that’s great, Keith, I was worried you weren’t going to have a good time today,” Hunk says as he pats him on the back.

After the Haunted Mansion though, Keith knew there was only one more ride he’d be going on for the rest of the day.

There’s about three seconds Keith can capitalize on before the ride starts. If he’s lucky, the first attendant puts him in the first line, closest to where The Hot Employee works.

“You really like this ride huh?”

“Yeah, guess you could say that.” Keith musters, trying to keep a knowing smirk at bay. The ride starts before they say much more.

And it continues on like that. Keith gets a Fastpass while also getting in line for a few moments of brief conversation. At least the employee continues to greet him with the same warm smile. Either that or he has a heart of gold even for a creepy patron that keeps coming back. They pass a few smiles and small talk.

“So where are you from?”

“Oh Space Mountain. Oh no, I- I mean I’m from here. Yes, the OC.”

“Oh cool. LA, so pretty close.” Keith doesn’t even catch on.

That’s all they manage to fit in, but Keith starts noticing other things. His insane figure straining that hideous outfit every time he bends down to check his seatbelt. Not to mention, his hands every time he pulls the strap. God, he wonders what else- and the ride lifts off.

Keith was ready to reap the benefits of his latest Fastpass again, but Pidge calls him.

“Keith, we’re about ready to go -- Hunk can’t handle anymore rides for today.Where are you?”

“Space..Mountain.”

“No fucking way, Kogane, still?” Pidge hears a heavy exhale and knows better than to question it. There’s something more to it than just a good ride.

The slight chuckle signals to Keith that he’s already lost.

“Main entrance. Be there in five,” and he hangs up abruptly.

They’ve rented an Airbnb closeby for a few days, but the 5 minute ride is excruciating.

“So, who is it?” There isn’t an ounce of doubt in Pidge’s voice.

“What?” Keith exclaims, looking out the window to hide the growing blush.

“Oh my god. I know.” Lance’s beaming smile raises the heat of Keith’s cheeks even more. It’s inevitable now. “It was that employee in front. Totally Keith’s type, and out of his league may I add.”

“Now that all makes sense… but wait Keith you were there the whole day, what did you…” Hunk asks, prodding at his shoulder. But all he can manage out is a groan. It was going to be a long car ride, and he knew that there’d be no avoiding it, especially if he was going to head back there tomorrow.

* * *

“Shiro, Shiro bud, you’ve got it bad don’t you.”

“Matt, what?”

“Don’t lie. That emo ass twink was riding all day long. Also, ‘from Space Mountain’?” Matt gestured mockingly with his hands, despite being in the driver’s seat as they carpooled home, “You know, for all your popularity, Shirogane, you’re lacking all the charm.”

“Look, I… all the small talk was at least normal. We’re on the job okay!” Shiro runs his hand through his hair and frustratingly just stares out the window, not giving Matt the pleasure of seeing the flush building from ear to ear.

“Just you wait. I’m betting if he’s on vacay, then he’ll be right back tomorrow.”

“I’m not even working tomorrow!”

“But he doesn’t know that, does he?” Matt chuckles.

Shiro sighs into his palms. “Please, you’ve gotta let me know, Matt. Or at least tell him I’m not there, I don’t know..”

“Don’t worry, Shiro. I’ve got this all under control.”

Shiro has every reason to doubt that, but after a long day, all he can do is watch the streetlights pass and think about those, dare he say, amethyst eyes, that adorable mullet that got more and more messed up with each ride, god Takashi Shirogane was screwed.

* * *

They get up bright and early to tackle California Adventure. Pidge has an elaborate plan to conquer every ride, and even return to regular Disneyland again for their favorites. Keith tries, he really does, but just seeing the fake excuse of California’s wilderness as a replica was more than upsetting. He’s been in those Yosemite woods with his dad before, and this was downright offensive. His mind wanders off to his own adventures at Space Mountain yesterday, and he sucks it up.

“Guys, I… I’m gonna head back to Space Mountain.” Keith admits while looking pointedly away. This was ridiculous, and he felt the overwhelming embarrassment, but he knew he’d rather be doing this than being sour the entire day in DCA.

“Honest, surprised you even stayed this long with us, Mullet.” Keith looks up in shock. Their expressions are straight, honestly not expecting anything different from him.

“Any other day, I’d wanna come see this all unfold, but we” Hunk points to Pidge, who’s holding up her itinerary, “are packed and getting our worth here.”

Keith couldn’t be more thankful, as he sped off to the other side of the park.

But he’s not there, his dashing Space Mountain employee. His despondency probably shows because another employee shows up while he’s waiting for the next car. He reminds Keith of someone, but he can’t put his finger on it.

“Looking for somebody?” His sly tone makes Keith regret even paying any attention to him.

“No…” but the Look that Matt gives him breaks down his last defenses before utter desperation.

“I’ll make it easy for you. White-hair, sexy scar, and buff as hell? Yeah, that’s Shiro. He’s picking up a shift at It’s a Small World today, bro.” Matt says with an air of urgency. Keith eats up the bait, and immediately shoves his way out of line.

Keith’s urgency dies down once he sees just what “It’s a Small World” really is. He didn’t think things could get more garish gold and blue embellishments, reminiscent of universal landmarks. But at least, the line’s short

He gets onto the rickety boat along with other children and parents — he feels a bit out of place, but it’s the last of his concerns. The Employee isn’t there, but the thought that the other Space Mountain employee lied to him isn’t even within his considerations. Keith feels like a creep, but he really thinks there’s a connection going on. Why would he even start the small talk, right? Then the ride starts, and the little boat is consumed by the darkness echoing out the cries of hundreds of children.

It’s no wonder the line for It’s a Small World is incredibly short; it’s outdated and on the fine line between amusing and terrifying. Keith can’t put into words his utter annoyance but also discomfort from the animatronics and shrill singing voices. He tries to block it out as much as possible, palming his face, fingers plugging as much of his hearing as possible.

“Mommy..is he okay?” Keith hears from a kid sitting in the back of him. This is what he’s become, a pitiful, pining disaster for that hunk of an employee. He considers rejoining the rest of the crew, but what’s left to lose at this point.

Keith takes a much-needed breather. If Shiro really was working here, maybe it’d be at the top of the hour. So that’s Keith’s strategy. He ends up taking over an entire Pokemon gym and holding down the fort for the rest of the day, cleansing his sanity between getting on that ride to the depths of “It’s a Small World.” Shiro isn’t there, but Keith’s stubborness is stronger than his logic.

By his fifth ride, another employee reaches out to him as he waits in the queue to get onto the next raft. Platinum blonde hair highlights her radiant blue eyes, and he can’t help but get a glance. They meet eyes.

“Hello again, you really like this ride don’t you?” It’s the same thing Shiro said to him the first time, but without the charm and more just curiosity. But maybe it’s Keith’s way out. That being said, there’s so many employees here, he doubts they all know each other, but just in case.

“I’m actually looking to… surprise a friend, not like trying to find him or anything, but well, I do want to see him,” Keith improvises, “ uhm...Shiro, if you know him, I heard he was working here today.”

“Shiro? Oh no, he usually works at Space Mountain. In fact, this might be his day off,” Allura, as Keith sees on the name tag, replies almost with a guilty tone in her voice. The realization settles in, deep in his gut, that he really wasted his entire day enduring this ride for nothing. But he doesn’t want to vent his frustrations on Allura who was just trying to help, so he quickly thanks her before she has to see his grimace unconsciously surfacing.

* * *

It’s been a pleasant day for Shiro, hitting the gym in the morning and savoring lunch with his cat, Black, while brushing up on this week’s readings. It’s almost too perfect, and he can’t help but fight off a nagging feeling that he’s doing a disservice to someone for having such a good time. But he brushes it off as his usual self-deprecating moods.

Just as he’s about to head out for some errands, he gets a call from Allura. It’s rare for her to contact him on his day off. She’s usually encouraging him to take time for himself, so this must be serious.

“Allura? What’s wrong?”

“Hello, Shiro. So sorry to be calling you today, but I must ask if you have any friends with a pretty distinct mullet, purple eyes, really pretty I must say,and a bit shorter than me?”

“I... ,” Shiro knows exactly who that is but, “Allura, where did you see him?”

“He was riding Its A Small World over and over!” Allura says with way too much delight for a ride like that. Maybe that’s why she’s perfect there.

“Oh no” Shiro realizes just why, “Matt. Okay. I- I’m coming. Thanks Allura.”

“Wait Shiro! What do you mean?” Allura concerningly looks around the area, but she has no clue where that guy could’ve gone. It’s going to be hard for Shiro to trace him down in a park with over 50,000 visitors.

Shiro miscalculated. Sure, it was great knowing that silly crush of his was there but where the hell in such a massive park as this. He runs to Its A Small World, like an obstacle course of avoiding peoples photos and trampling over the smaller children. Any other day he’d be a lot more careful, but he just needs to find this guy after all he’s been through. Of course, he’s nowhere to be seen, and Allura hasn’t seen him since.

Keith indignantly goes back to Space Mountain with all the momentum ready to give that misleading employee a piece of his mind, is what he convinces himself of. But really, he just wants to hang on the hopes that Shiro would be there in some sort of streak of luck. If not, he just goes full circle and gets to enjoy a nice palette cleansing ride. After all, that’s all he expected of a trip to Disneyland, not some romcom with a hunk way out of his league.

The line is thankfully short this time around, probably to put him out of his misery quickly. As expected, Shiro isn’t there, and so Keith takes the sole seat in the back. The employee from this morning is there though.

“Hey. You know what you did this morn-” Keith shuts his mouth as realizes he isn’t even paying attention to him. In fact, the employee has an annoying shit-eating grin instead and staring somewhere into the line.

“Any single riders?” He yells out, looking pointedly at a hand waving in the crowd.

“Me!” a familiar voice calls out. Keith can’t help but look over and probably everyone else too. There he was, that beautiful man, even more stunning out of that uniform and in a pair of khaki joggers that did his thighs too much justice and a perfectly fitted henley. And he slides into the seat right next to Keith.

“I.. I’m a _single_ rider.” He manages to get out beneath his bated breaths with that same smile he greeted Keith with every ride yesterday.

“I’m Shiro. Sorry, I should’ve said something so much earlier,” he nervously introduces himself, hand instinctively going to part his hair.

“Keith… I, yeah me too. Instead of creepily going on the rides again and again,” and they both chuckle it off knowing just to the extent both of them would have avoided this disaster.

“Wanna go out, get something to eat after this?” Keith asks with unfaltering confidence this time.

“Yeah..Yeah. That sounds great,” and they’re lifted off into the stars, laughing as if they were headed to the happiest place in the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)
> 
> Come talk to me about sheith on [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/tetsu_cchi) !


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